


boughs of holly

by sentimentalscribe



Series: Solangelo Holidays [3]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Christmas!, Established Relationship, Joy!, M/M, but only barely, if you want to read the full fic head on over to my profile and check it out!, love!, perhaps the coziest thing I have ever written, read this any time of year because cavities are perfect for every season, this is an ABSURD amount of fluff, this is an outtake from my hsau so they're mortal idiot teenagers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-26 21:51:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17149718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sentimentalscribe/pseuds/sentimentalscribe
Summary: Will finds out Nico spends Christmas alone every year, so he is of course legally obligated to adopt him into the Solace family tradition. Also, Will's mom just found out two seconds ago that he and Nico are dating, so that's interesting. Fluff and coziness ensue!(An outtake from my longer fic, The Quiz, because I just had to post this scene on its own for Christmastime. Enjoy!)





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keep in mind this is an outtake from the full fic, so apologies for anything that doesn't make 100% sense! I promise it's all explained in the full. Enjoy and have a happy holiday!!

 

Midterms.

Will wasn’t sure where he ended and the coffee began.

He and Nico finally got their acts together the last few days before testing and ramped up the studying, cramming like nobody’s business just enough to let Will scrape by with mid-to-high Bs on all of his exams. Thank God, Jesus above, and all of the baby angels in heaven.

Will was slouched over on the block of concrete he usually used to wait for Nico after school, waiting for him to show up, half-asleep and fighting to keep his eyes open. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed when he woke with a start to a tap on his shoulder.

Swearing loudly, Will whipped his head around to find the source.

Nico stood over him, almost laughing. He lacked the quintessential dead, bloodshot eyes that haunted Will and most of the other students, which seemed unfair. Nico seemed to glide through school on roller skates, wearing shades and sipping a smoothie while the rest of them suffered. “You good?”

Will grunted in response. Then, in case it wasn’t clear, he added, “Tired.”

“I couldn’t tell.”

Will flipped him off.

Nico smiled, which Will could only vaguely appreciate in his stupor. “Usually you’re the one waking me up at school," he said. "Nice change of pace. Alright, let’s get you in the car so you can go home and sleep. I’m guessing you don’t want to come over today?”

“I don’t think I physically can.” Will could barely keep his head up.

“Understood.” Nico offered Will a hand. “Here.”

Will took it, letting Nico haul him up, and he tripped over his own two feet as soon as he was standing. Nico laughed at him, which Will chose to hear as affection, not mockery. (Maybe a bit of both.) They walked the rest of the distance to the car, Nico’s hand on his back guiding him, and Will all but fell into the passenger seat. Nico opened the door for him like a true gentleman. He even volunteered to load Will’s bike into the trunk.

Will was about to drift off again, but Nico started the ignition and the car’s rumble woke him. He wiped his eyes and yawned, noticing that Nico was watching him with, god, just the fondest damn expression in the world. Sunshine ran through Will’s body right down to his toes.

Will raised his eyebrows. “What?”

“Nothing.” Nico shrugged, still smiling. “Just don’t usually get to see you sleepy.” He thankfully turned his attention back to the wheel then, because Will most definitely went red. Nico started navigating them out of there and continued, “I know we said we were maybe getting ice cream today to celebrate, but I guess we can do that another day. We have all of break for that now.”

Will looked up. “Say that again.”

“What? That we can get ice cream later?”

“No. The thing about break. And celebrating.”

“Christmas break? It’s started now that all of the tests are done. We were going to, yeah, celebrate. Why?”

“But that’s after Friday. Today's Thursday.”

“...It’s Friday." Nico watched him carefully. “Holy shit. I’m so happy to tell you this: You don’t have to do jack for the next two weeks. Just sleeping and snacks.”

Will sat there, dead weight, staring out the window as they drove down suburban surface streets. His thoughts slowly came together, a spinning beach ball icon marking his slowly crystallizing thought process until he finally absorbed the information in a beautiful, shining moment and almost teared up with joy.

“There is a God,” he whispered. “And he loves us.”

Nico laughed. “Yeah, you wouldn’t have made it through another day. God knows I wouldn’t have.”

“Oh, shut up. You seem fine. Mr. Peppy over here.” Will gestured vaguely over to Nico and his stupid perfect lack of extra eye bags.

Nico’s eyes narrowed. “I’m exhausted. The only difference is I’m not falling asleep in public. Which, I admit, is usually my MO.”

Will draped his jacket over his eyes like a sleepmask. “True. Oh, what are you doing for Christmas?”

Nico bristled. “Well, my father hasn’t said anything, but I assume we’ll be doing our yearly tradition.”

“What’s that?”

“Waking up in the house alone because they always ditch me to go to Greece with my stepmother’s family. Sometimes he’ll have some special tree-shaped cookies delivered or something while I pace around and do homework. It’s a blast.”

Will’s jaw dropped. He took off his makeshift sleepmask to properly stare at Nico in shock. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah. It’s fine, though. I don’t really mind anymore.”

Will’s heart deflated at Nico’s neutral shrug. His dark hair was falling in his eyes like usual, and Will wanted to brush it aside, like usual, but he couldn’t even focus on that. How could this fantastic human being not have good Christmases, not even sometimes?

“That’s the saddest thing I’ve ever heard." In Will's sleep-addled, sentimental brain, he meant it. He probably would have started tearing up if he'd thought about it too much more. He immediately blurted, “Come to my house. Come do Christmas with me.”

Nico stared at him. “What? No. I couldn’t -” He stopped. “I mean - do you mean it?”

“Of course! Just the thought of you spending Christmas alone in that tomb is smashing my soul through a meat grinder. No. You’re completely welcome.”

“What about your mom? I’m sure you guys have family stuff. I don’t want to intrude. Really. It’s okay.”

“Shit. I wasn’t thinking about my mom. Um, how about this - I’ll ask her tonight if it’s even a possibility. You don’t have to say yes or no right now, but the offer is out there.” He couldn't help but smile at that idiot (his idiot) and finished, “I don’t let people I care about have awful Christmases. It’s in my 10 Commandments.”

“Right up there with Thou Shalt Not joke about improper bandaging techniques?”

Will shoved his arm, accidentally causing the car to swerve slightly. Oops.

Before Will could say anything, Nico course-corrected and ventured, "Does she...?"

Will blinked. Then, "Oh. Um." His face heated. "No. I still haven't said anything. I really don't want her to go full Pride Mom in your face. It's lethal in large doses."

Nico nodded. "Just wondering."

Will studied his face. Always so closed-off. He noticed Nico tap his skull ring against the steering wheel in thought.

After a moment, Nico spoke again. “But seriously… Uh, thank you. That means a lot.” Nico wouldn’t quite look Will head-on. “Depending on how it goes with permission and stuff, I'd be… open to that, at least. Thank you.”

Will so wanted to kiss him, even if it might make the car swerve and combust in a ditch somewhere. Worth it. He just wanted to wrap Nico up in a koala hug forever while flipping off Nico’s father, whom Will still hadn’t met. How could people who got to live with Nico every day squander this privilege by ditching him on Christmas? It was cosmically unjust.

Nico seemed to be off in other world, which was a little bit worrisome considering he was still driving, but he quietly mused, “That would be nice.”

Will reached over and squeezed his hand.

Nico looked down at their interlocked fingers and smiled. He nodded slowly and repeated, “Yeah. That would be really nice.”


	2. Chapter 2

 

Will didn’t know how to move.

Nico knocked at the door again, perhaps thinking that maybe the doorbell hadn’t worked, waiting for Will to open it. Will’s mom was still standing at the counter, expression blank, and he needed at least an hour or more to talk with her about this before she met Nico, but here he was, and this was awful, but oh god he needed to get the door -

He rushed over and opened it to let Nico in (he was incredibly cute in a red scarf), but then he thought better of it and joined him outside, signalling One moment to his mom over in the kitchen before closing the door on her and joining Nico on the porch.

Nico looked so confused. Shit. Will cringed and said, “...Hi.”

“Uh, hi? Merry Christmas Eve.” Nico held up the presents in his arms. “I like your sweater.”

Will glanced down at his candy cane ensemble. “Oh, thanks. It’s for Christmas.” That was obvious. He was stupid. He saw Nico’s hand-wrapped gifts and said, “Oh god, you brought presents. Thank you, you’re the best.” Will scratched the back of his neck. “I… may have done something very stupid.”

Nico’s eyes narrowed. “Like, eat-sherbert/chocolate-ice-cream stupid or chug-Windex stupid?”

“You’re never going to let that ice cream go, are you? But, um, somewhere in between. Try just-told-my-mother-ten-seconds-ago-that-we’re-dating stupid.”

Nico stared at him. “Just now?”

Will nodded.

“As in just now? As in, you said you wanted to brief her in private so there wouldn’t be a big scene so you did it just now?”

Will slapped a hand over his face. “Yes. Just now. And there’s not a ton I can do about it, so just come in and I apologize in advance for anything she might do.”

Nico took a deep breath. “Okay. If I remember correctly, she’s not homophobic, right? This should be fine.”

Will cringed. “Well, she’s trying her very best. She’s learning. But no, not actively homophobic at all. She might ask insensitive questions in her quest to be a good ally, though. And even if you were a girl, this would be awkward.”

“Okay, fair.” Nico looked up at him. “I thought my friends would be awful and they turned out fine. Maybe it’ll be the same?”

“Maybe.” Will tried for a smile. Nico really did look great in that scarf. He wanted to get a picture of him like this and keep it in his room. Wait. Focus. He looked into Nico’s deep-set eyes and said, “I’m sorry about this. Thank you for - uh, for dealing with this.”

“Of course. You had to deal with all of my friends. It only seems fair.”

Will couldn’t help a sappy smile. He kissed him on the cheek, the warmth of Nico’s skin lingering on his lips when he pulled away, and said, “Alright. Ready to go in, soldier?”

Nico saluted. Then, “Oh, wait - what’s your mom’s name again? Just in case.”

“Naomi.”

“Naomi,” Nico repeated to himself. “Got it. This is probably going to be fine. Maybe. Possibly.”

Will laughed and couldn’t help but kiss him again, for real this time. Nico must have gotten a new Chapstick or something, because it tasted nice. When he pulled away, Nico looked at little more at ease.

They shared one more nod to confirm the plan and Will opened the door.

His mom was sitting on the couch right by the window. Oh. Will had assumed she would stay over by the kitchen. Had she seen them out there? That would be mortifying.

He pushed that aside and said, “Hi, Mom. Nico’s here.”

Nico gave a tiny wave, standing almost behind Will. “Thank you for having me, Ms. Solace. I really appreciate it.” He held up the gifts. “Should I put these under the tree?”

For someone so stressed a moment ago, Nico was covering very well. Will was sure he didn’t have that same poise as Nico. He was kind of shaking.

“Oh! Aren’t you a sweetheart. Under the tree is fine.” She stood up with a smile and approached Nico, who looked her in the eye with a pleasant, easygoing expression that Will was in awe of. Was this boy a wizard of Mom conversation?

At least, until Will’s mom gave Nico a greeting hug. Curse her Southern hospitality. Will caught Nico’s eye from over her shoulder and Nico shot him a panicked I have no idea what I’m doing look. Okay. Seemed like Nico wasn’t so pulled together.

Then Will’s mom stepped back and looked Nico over, head to toe. Will would have dissolved into the wallpaper if he could.

She put her hands on her hips and said, “Merry Christmas Eve, Nico. I realize I haven’t really had a chance to talk to you, which is silly. You’re here all the time.” She took a deep breath, smiled, and nodded. “This is good. I’m glad you’re here.”

“I’m glad I’m here, too. Again, thank you so much.” Nico looked to Will. “I didn’t want to encroach on any family traditions or anything.” An idea crossed his face. “Speaking of which, Will mentioned something about your guys’ crazy traditions...?”

And that was all she needed. Nico was a genius.

“Yes!” his mom exclaimed. She got a fire in her eyes and hurriedly moved to the kitchen table, gesturing for the boys to follow. They did. On the table was an array of baking sheets, flour, butter, other baking items, and a ridiculous number of novelty cookie cutters.

Nico raised his eyebrows. “Wow.”

“Later we’ll have the bake-a-thon,” she said.

Will nodded and gestured grandly to the table’s contents, attempting to shake off his nerves. There were jazz hands involved. “It will be decadent and unnecessary.”

“With a ridiculous number of cookies -”

“Shaped like a ridiculous number of things!" Will finished. "And all of the cookie dough is fair game for snacking before the bake."

Will's mom nodded in agreement. “We hope you like gingerbread.”

“I do." Nico was beaming. He turned between the two of them with this look in his eye that Will couldn’t decipher. Wistfulness, maybe?

“Good.” Ms. Solace nodded firmly. “Alright, I still have a bit of work to finish up before Christmas Eve officially starts, and the test batch of the gingerbread needs to be taken out in a minute, so you two can do something else until I finish. A few hours, maybe?”

“Okay.” Will was more than happy to step away for a bit. “Nico, do you want to head to my room?” He worried for a second that his mom might misinterpret his words, but he figured context would show that it was innocent. They were fine, right? Yes? God, this night was going to involve a lot of overthinking.

“Sure.” Nico looked to Will’s mom as if to check if that was okay. Adorable.

She nodded in encouragement and waved a hand to shoo them away. “Go on ahead. I’ll see y'all later!”

That was easy. Will turned and led them down the hall, but happened to look over his shoulder along the way. His mom met his eye, pointed at Nico’s back, and gave Will a thumbs-up.

Will went red. Dear god. He turned quickly back to the hall, gesturing for Nico to go into his room first, and closed the door behind them.

Nico sat on the bed immediately, eyes wide, and quietly started freaking out. “Oh my god. Did I do it right? Does she hate me? I’m sorry. I’m just making it up as I go.”

Will raised an eyebrow. “Seriously? You’re killing it. You looked so calm. I’m actually impressed.”

“Really?” Nico’s nervous energy deflated. “I’m just on autopilot. I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“Hey. Look at me.” Will joined him, standing right in front of where Nico was sitting. He tilted Nico’s chin up so their eyes met. “It’s going great. We’re going to have an amazing Christmas. And if you ever think you don’t know what you’re doing, think of me. Because I’m even stupider and probably have even less of an idea of what I’m doing.”

Nico laughed at that, which Will considered a victory. “Thank you. I’m deeply moved.”

“I can have that effect,” Will said solemnly. “I’m just so full of beautiful, sage wisdom. It’s a gift.” He looked in the distance dramatically. “And a curse.”

Nico laughed again, which was the most beautiful and rewarding sound in the world, and Will cracked a smile at the fact that he got to listen to it whenever he wanted. He was the luckiest guy on Earth. Especially now, because Nico grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him down for a kiss, because why not? Will strongly agreed with this genius line of logic. Nico's kisses always sent electricity crackling down his spine, but they couldn't even go in a second time because they were both smiling too much.

God, his life was charmed. This was the best possible problem to have.

When they pulled away, Will smiled and took a seat next to Nico on the bed. He grabbed his hand, just because he could. “We’ve got a couple hours before festivities and stuff. What do you want to do?"

Nico shrugged, still red from a second ago. “I dunno. I’m never over here when we’re not studying. It’s weird. Do you have Netflix?”

“Why, are we Netflix and Chilling like the hip cool kids?”

“Please never say that combination of words ever again with your face.”

“Fair.” Will laughed. “But yeah, I got some stuff. Let’s look.”

Twenty minutes and lots of mocking bad movies that Netflix had no excuse for adding to their service later, they finally settled on Tangled. They leaned on Will’s wall and some pillows while the laptop rested on their shared lap, illuminating the dim room as they huddled up in the blankets. Nico rested his head on Will’s shoulder, the weight warm and welcome. Will leaned his head on Nico’s, closed his eyes, and really tried to remember this feeling. Everything these days with Nico felt surreal, but in a good way. He was the most insanely blessed person in the universe and that was a little overwhelming.

As they watched Rapunzel and Flynn flirt by the campfire, Will laughed and said, “I probably would have figured out I was bi way earlier if this movie had been out when I was younger.”

Nico snorted. “If only.”

“Did you know that they did focus groups and stuff to try to create the most perfectly attractive man when they were making Flynn Rider?”

“I didn’t,” Nico said through a mouth of chips. “But I can tell. They did a good job.”

“And I think we’re all a little in love with Rapunzel.”

“I’ll take your word for it.”

Will laughed. “All of us. Deep in our souls. No exceptions.”

“Eh,” Nico said, popping another chip in his mouth. “She’s so…”

“Female?”

“Yeah.”

Will got the giggles after that, and Nico was laughing, too, so Will almost didn’t notice the knock on the door.

“Come in,” he called.

He realized a second too late that maybe they should have looked less cuddly for his mom, but it was probably fine. They were just leaning into each other's shoulders. In any case, Nico sat up upon Will’s mom’s arrival, a little red.

If she was fazed, she didn’t show it. “Hey, I’m done with my work stuff. You guys wanna pause and join me in the kitchen?”

“Yeah, just a sec.” Will closed the laptop and hopped off the bed. “Man, she was just about to learn Mother Gothel’s true identity.”

“Huh?”

“Tangled.”

“Ah. Alright, the oven is preheating, so let’s start baking! Come on.” She gestured for them to follow.

Nico stood up, too, back in Meet the Parents Mode, and gave what only Will could tell was a nervous smile. “Be right there, Ms. Solace.”

She nodded and turned away, back to the kitchen. Nico stopped Will once she was out of earshot, nice demeanor dropped, and said, “Is this okay? Is she mad?”

“What? Why would she be mad?”

“I don’t know. We… existed kind of close to each other? Is that allowed?”

Will stared at him.

Nico looked toward the kitchen. “...I may be a little jumpy.”

“A little?”

“A lot.” Nico shuddered as if a cold breeze had hit him. “I just don’t want to ruin your Christmas.”

Will groaned. “Seriously, what? You’re not ruining anything.”

“But I -”

“No. I am ecstatic that you’re here. My mom already likes you. It’s not like this is the first time you’re meeting.”

Nico opened his mouth to speak, then closed it.

Will squeezed his hand. “This is going to be fun.”

Nico took a deep breath and exhaled. “Fun.”

Will smiled at him. God, he could get lost in those eyes. He leaned forward to kiss Nico's forehead and laughed when Nico bristled.

Nico pushed him away, nose scrunching as he said, “Alright, this is making me sick. Let’s go.”

Will laughed. Mission accomplished

As they re-emerged into the main area, Will grew self-conscious for the millionth time over his home. There were papers all over the kitchen and the yellow paint on the walls had started to peel in some areas, but Nico was looking around, smiling.

“What?” Will asked.

“Nothing. I just really like your house.”

“Oh. Thanks.” Will watched the way Nico’s eyes moved around the place, as if he were trying to memorize every detail. Will couldn’t figure out why. He said, “It’s not much.”

“It’s amazing.” Nico looked Will in the eye as if that were simply the truth. No more arguing allowed.

In the kitchen, Will’s mom was switching between different fun oven mitts as she prepared various gingerbread fixings. Will had always liked their oven mitts, an odd assortment of novelty ones they had picked up at roadside shops over the years.

Nico smiled at her. With what must have been a Herculean effort to look comfortable and excited, he said, “Here we are. How can we help?”

-

The rest of the night passed in a pleasant blur. Cookies went right as planned and Will and Nico both ended up covered in flour. This presented Will with the opportunity to wipe some of it off Nico’s cheek with his thumb, which got the desired blush from Nico, but it was also seen by his mom, which was absolutely mortifying. Every time she saw them being cute, she would get this knowing smile that made Will want to dive into a canyon.

The rest of their traditions went about normal, too. At one point Nico was able to find the pickle ornament before either Will or his mom, which led to her staring at Will like, Wherever you found this boy, don’t let him out of your sight. He’s too powerful.

After all of the must-do’s were finished, Ms. Solace suggested a Christmas movie, and now the boys were kneeling in front of the TV, perusing DVDs.

Will gestured to the assortment of discs and said, “Choose your favorite.”

But Nico stared at them blankly. After a moment, he tried, “I know Peanuts? ...I think.”

Will looked up from the movies to stare at him. “What? These are classics!”

“I know,” Nico said, quieter. “I’ve just never seen them.”

Will was flabbergasted. “Wow. Alright, that’s it. We’re watching The Grinch, pronto.”

“Hold on, Will,” his mom interrupted. She was in a side armchair and absentmindedly swirling a glass of wine, leaving the big couch open for the boys. “We want everyone to feel cozy. Let’s do Peanuts if it’s the one Nico knows.”

“Oh, I -“ Nico started.

“It’s decided,” she said.

Nico wisely heeded the final word of Mama Solace.

Will nodded and got the movie ready, then followed Nico back to the couch. Once they were settled with all the appropriate Christmas blankets, Will had just been thinking about how chill and non-invasive his mom was being about all of this when she asked, “So, how long have you guys been together?”

Will’s words caught in his throat. He exchanged a glance with Nico, who looked at him in full panic.

“Um,” Will said, redness creeping up his neck as he glanced between Nico and his mom. “I think three months? Four?” He tried to silently check his math with Nico, but Nico was out of order at the moment. The best Will got was a shrug.

Desperate to fill the silence, Will kept talking. “I think it’s three and a half. I’m not sure. We don’t have, like, a specific anniversary or anything. I mean, do we?” He checked with Nico again and got another tense shrug. This was way more embarrassing than it should have been. “Uh. Can we start the movie?”

His mom ignored that last bit. “Okay. No one is giving you guys a hard time, right? Because I used to be on the PTA and I can still definitely get some kids suspended -”

“Oh my god. Mom. No. It’s fine, really.” Will spared another glance at Nico, who was coming up with new and creative ways to hide his face.

“Good." She watched them like interesting test subjects. Will wanted to crawl out of his skin. “Because I remember when I was in high school, and kids can be cruel -”

“It’s fine! Really! Thank you, but this is a chill school. Please. It’s really fine.” Will mimed pressing the remote to play the movie. “Can we please just watch?”

She took a second to think it all over, but then nodded. “Go ahead. As long as everything is really fine.” She paused for a moment and looked both of them in the eye, one after the other. “I support you.”

Oh man. Will had to force himself to remember that this was all with the best of intentions. She wasn’t meaning to be monumentally embarrassing in front of Will's new boyfriend. And Will was of course appreciative of her support. Who was he to get annoyed with all this love and tolerance when so many people would kill for the same situation? “Thanks, Mom.”

Nico spoke up for the first time in all of this, not quite making eye contact with her, but close. He quietly said, “Thank you.”

The air in the room hung still for a moment before Will slowly pressed play.

The classic theme song started up and as the beginning credits started to play. Phew. Will finally started to relax, until -

“Am I supposed to make you guys sleep in separate rooms?”

“What?” Fuck. If Will hadn’t been red before, he sure as hell was now. He paused the show so it wouldn't be interrupted.

“I don’t what I’m supposed to do. Am I being responsible as a mother if I let you guys sleep alone in your room? Or is not allowing that old-fashioned? Or is not not allowing that naive? I mean, I know how teenagers work -”

Nico looked about to spontaneously combust. Will felt about the same, but he quickly jumped in with, “We’ll sleep out here! Nico can take the couch and I’ll pull out the futon. Okay? Can we please not talk about this anymore?”

Will’s mom put her hands up in surrender. “Yes, sure, I just figured we had to discuss it sometime -”

“Cool, great.” Will turned back to the screen and pressed play at lightning speed. Dear heavens above, let the Peanuts save them from this atrocity of a conversation.

The opening music continued, and slowly everything in the room faded back to normal. Thank god.

Nico took a deep breath and relaxed. They shared a look of mutual relief and Will mouthed, Sorry.

Nico shook his head, smiling a bit. He mouthed back, It’s fine.

God, Will wanted to wrap him up and watch all these old classics with him while holding him close, but that obviously wasn’t in the cards at the moment. Instead, Will found Nico’s hand under the covers and squeezed it. Nico squeezed back.

After that, the movie took over. At some point, Nico leaned into Will’s side a bit, safe because Ms. Solace probably wasn't paying attention to them from the other side of the room, and Will very much appreciated it. Will fought the urge to grin at the sight of Nico in his arms, perfectly matching such an innocent holiday. It was just astonishing that Nico was real. Rare and miraculous and bewildering that Will had managed to reach this point in the Choose Your Own Adventure of his life. Over the course of the movie, Will kept getting distracted from Snoopy and the gang to watch Nico’s beautiful features as the colors from the TV washed over him. He was so lucky.

By the end, Will’s mom had fallen asleep in the armchair on the other side of the room, her now-empty glass of wine in her lap. Will felt a pang of affection at her passed-out face. He was lucky to have her, too.

After the credits finished, the screen went dark. Will and Nico looked at each other.

“I guess that’s that,” Nico said.

“Yep.”

Nico leaned forward to try to catch sight of the clock in the kitchen. “What time is it?”

Will pulled out his phone. “12:30.”

“Huh. I guess it’s morning.”

“Yep." What that meant dawned on Will a second too slow, but once he realized, he smiled. "Merry Christmas, Nico.” Will's heart ached at that mess of dark hair in front of him. He checked that his mom was still asleep, then turned back to Nico and kissed his forehead.

Nico smiled, too, a strange mix of fondness and emotion in his eyes. “Merry Christmas, Will.”

Nico looked off to the side and Will followed his gaze. The Christmas tree was all lit up with tinsel and colorful lights and un-cohesive ornaments that each held love in them. With the TV dead, the tree was the only source of light in the room. Will hadn’t realized just how dark it had gotten until that moment, but he could only barely make out Nico’s features in the shadows

“Will?”

He turned back away from the tree to meet Nico's gaze. “Hm?”

“Thank you.” Nico rested his head on Will’s shoulder. “I don’t know how much I’ve told you about this, but I don’t... I haven’t really had this - uh, sort of thing. I’m not used to...”

Quiet. He didn’t finish. Just left it there.

Will knew words weren’t Nico’s strong suit sometimes. He wrapped an arm around him, pulling him that last inch closer, and absentmindedly ran his thumb over the nape of his neck in small circles. Crickets were chirping outside, the only other sound in the night besides their hushed voices.

“You deserve it, you know,” Will ventured. “Real Christmases. Not alone. Lots of dumb traditions and people who care about you.”

Nico picked his head up off Will’s shoulder. He didn’t seem to be able to say anything back, but he smiled with an emotion that Will couldn't quite decipher. Nico's eyes traced over Will's face, looking for all the world like he thought Will was the Holy Grail, and it made Will feel so distinctly loved and seen and special. Will wondered if Nico was going to kiss him. He certainly wouldn’t have objected.

But instead, Nico gave him a crushing hug, burying his face in the collar of Will’s sweater, and this was so much better. Will didn’t even think before wrapping his arms around him, too, feeling that warmth that was always so surprising about Nico emanating through his shirt. He rested his chin on Nico’s shoulder and closed his eyes and they stayed there for a long while, holding each other in the light of the Christmas tree in the quiet house. Will would have stayed there forever if he could have.

Time didn't exist there, but eventually they slowly pulled away. Once they were able to see each other again, Will could have sworn he saw a tear in Nico’s eye. He knew him well enough not to bring it up.

“Thank you,” Will said, not even particularly sure what he was referring to. But he meant it.

Nico smiled, so so soft. “Thank you.”

Although he couldn't have told you what Nico meant, either, Will felt he understood.

He leaned in to press a soft kiss to Nico’s lips and his chest almost hurt in that moment with how much Nico meant to him. He didn't want to look away after they pulled back. The room was absolutely silent except for the crickets, and Will didn’t want to interrupt their chirping. So instead, he settled into Nico’s side and closed his eyes, smiling when he felt Nico do the same a moment later. They leaned together, just horizontal enough to sleep, and Will felt every blessing in the world in his lips resting at the line of Nico’s collarbone. Will briefly thought about his agreement to sleep separately on the futon, but they could just say they fell asleep during the movie along with his mom. The sounds of the night echoed on in a peaceful rhythm, singing along to the soft beat of Will’s heart, and just before Will drifted out of consciousness, he whispered a single, gentle, “‘Night.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope your holiday season is warm and bright this year, and if not, I hope at least some fluffy fanfic can ease the pain. Remember to kudo/comment(!)/bookmark if you enjoyed - it makes this author's day!
> 
> This is from my longer fic, The Quiz, which is an 85k slowburn high school AU if that sounds like your jam! It's on my profile if you ever want to check it out :) Have a happy holiday!!
> 
> twitter: sentimentalscr1  
> tumblr: sentimentalscribe.tumblr(.)com


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